Environment
Minister Trevor Mallard's speech to the
Urban Design Symposium, Circa Theatre, Wellington
30 June, 2008 - Thank
you for the invitation to open the Urban
Design Symposium this morning – the second
symposium that's been held for urban design
protocol champions and urban designers.
Welcome to everyone
here today, and a special welcome to today’s
keynote speaker from England, Mr Phil Jones.
Phil’s expertise on and insights into championing
urban design and transport will I am sure
support future work in this field in New
Zealand.
The meeting of minds
and gathering of ideas about urban design
is an important and timely exercise.
I don’t claim to be
an expert in this area – but like any citizen
or local, I believe the issue of what my
neighbourhood and community looks and feels
like and how environmentally friendly it
is – is very important.
It is an issue that
can grip local communities, and can cause
anguish in neighbourhoods confronted by
developers and urban design planners, if
it's not done right.
On a personal level,
it was great to see in my own electorate
that Hutt City Council and Upper Hutt Council
have both signed up to the New Zealand Urban
Design Protocol.
And on that point, welcome
to David Ogden Mayor of Hutt City and Wayne
Guppy Mayor of Upper Hutt.
The launch of the New
Zealand Urban Design Protocol in March 2005
marked the beginning of our government's
explicit support for quality urban design
– working in partnership with local communities
throughout New Zealand.
The protocol is an excellent
example of how we can raise awareness and
improve the importance of quality urban
design for our towns and cities.
It is heartening to
see that from small beginnings the protocol
now has 158 signatories –including 21 central
government agencies, 37 local government
organisations, 10 developers, 61 consultancies,
7 professional institutes, 7 education institutes
and 15 sector organisations. This includes
all major metro councils, the majority of
councils in growth areas, the Property Council
of New Zealand, and the major design and
planning institutes.
Congratulations to you
all – I hope you do your bit to encourage
others to join up as the protocol is a great
network that enables you to be kept informed
of the most up to date national and international
urban design issues on a monthly basis.
We also have a set of tools and resources
to help signatories – and more of this later.
Under the protocol,
the signatory organisation prepares an action
plan that defines what that organisation
has committed to do, to improve the quality
of the built environment. The only mandatory
action of a signatory is the appointment
of an urban design champion – an influential
person at a senior level in the organisation
who can promote and champion quality urban
design as well as challenging existing approaches.
I think I am probably
speaking here to the converted when I pose
the question – why is urban design important?
Our patterns of urban
development in New Zealand have been questioned
for a number of years. Many of our towns
and cities are characterised by sprawling
settlement patterns that promote reliance
on the private car that in turn increase
our carbon emissions.
We need to rethink our
approach to planning and the built environment
as we face the many challenges of future
growth and development in our towns and
cities. We must work together to achieve
towns and cites that are economically prosperous,
attractive for people to live in, and respond
to increasing environmental pressures.
Sustainable development
is what the focus should be.
Central government is
working to address many of these challenges
in the areas of transport, energy, housing
sustainability and urban design.
I know that many of
the Protocol signatories are the main drivers
in designing and redesigning our towns and
cities.
You will be seeing this
afternoon some of the more interesting developments
in Wellington including the new Meridian
Building and the impressive mixed use development
of Chews Lane.
I am sure these developments
will stimulate ideas and debate for future
built environment designs in New Zealand.
As part of the Ministry
for the Environment’s Urban Design Protocol
work, it is a now a pleasure to launch the
second volume of urban design case studies.
These nine case studies
are aimed at people working in and with
local government and provide best practice
examples of best practice urban design strategies,
plans guidelines and examples of development
projects throughout New Zealand.
We have case studies
here from the councils of Kapiti Coast,
North Shore, Wellington City, Hamilton City,
Greater Christchurch, and a Housing New
Zealand Corporation case study.
The first set of case
studies published in 2005 demonstrated urban
design qualities outlined in the protocol.
For this latest volume,
local government case studies were targeted
after the results of the 2006 "Survey
of Local Government Authorities Urban Design
Capabilities" which highlighted the
need to build skills and capacity in urban
design within and across local government.
The case studies are
interesting and varied. I would encourage
you to read them and pass them around to
others in your organisation.
As well as the hard
copy publication, they are also available
by going to www.mfe.govt.nz/urban
In addition to the release
of the Urban Design Case Studies, I would
like to take this opportunity to update
you on discussions around a possible National
Policy Statement on Urban Design that is
intended to provide guidance to help local
councils improve the quality of design in
urban environments.
The Ministry for the
Environment will shortly be writing to relevant
iwi authorities, individuals and organisations
seeking comment and feedback on the potential
scope of a National Policy Statement on
Urban Design as a first step in the process
of its development. I anticipate that many
here today will be invited to participate
and I would encourage you to do so.
Your active participation
will certainly clarify the issues that could
be addressed within a national policy statement
on urban design and clarify if indeed such
a statement is needed. It will also help
to inform the nature and extent of the policy
response required to achieve better quality
urban design in New Zealand.
In closing, I applaud
the connected and collaborative nature of
your urban design work. It is your important
contribution that is making our urban environment
more attractive, sustainable and liveable.
Thank you
